ESA Solar Orbiter

After NASA launched its "Parker Solar Probe (PSP)" satellite on August 12 last year, ESA will launch its "Solar Orbiter" satellite in February 2020. Why another satellite to the Sun? There was already Ulysses, Wind, SOHO, Trace, Cluster, Stereo, Hinode, Proba-2, SDO and last year Parker Solar Probe.  Although we already know a lot about how the sun works, we don't understand everything yet. For example, we still do not understand the origin of the high temperatures in the Corona and also not the accelerating mechanism of the plasma and particles, the solar wind, in the Corona. The riddle of the Solar Dynamo also remains: how do magnetic fields arise in and around the Sun and what contributions do the magnetic fields make in the Chromosphere, Corona and beyond in the Heliosphere. The new solar satellite "Solar Orbiter" tries to provide answers to all this.

The Solar Orbiter weighs around 1800 kg (compared to PSP 600 kg) and will take 10 measuring instruments on board, including the Extreme Ultraviolet Imager made in Liège(B). The Solar Orbiter will rotate around the sun in an elliptical orbit and eventually shear around the Sun every 6 months. The orbit always stretches from the Earth to about 42 million km from the Sun and therefore within the orbit of Mercury. In itself this is not a record because the PSP will approach the Sun to an incredible distance of 6.2 million km. By operating at a greater distance, the temperatures to which the Solar Orbiter will be exposed are limited to 600°C compared to 1400°C for the PSP. As a result, photos can be taken during this mission, which is not the case for the PSP. And of course we are already looking forward to it! The Solar Orbiter will change with every approach it's inclination with a maximum of 33 ° compared to the ecliptic. This allows the poles of  Sun to be included in the research.

See also : ESA Websit on Solar Orbiter  and some more background.

3 Weeks to Go : Mercury Transit

Counting down for the Mercury Transit on November 11th, 2019. In the afternoon of November 11th, planet Mercury will be moving in front of the Sun. The planet will be seen as a small spot on the Sun's disk. Watch out :  do not look without protection to the Sun! Use solar eclipse glasses or a special solar filters to watch this. 

If you miss this one, don't worry, the next Mercury transit will be on November 13th, 2032.

See also my observation of the last Mercury Transit of May 9th, 2016 via this link and this link.

Astro links updated

I updated my most used astro links. See my blog and click "Usefull Links" or via this link.

Nacht van de Duisternis - Helios in Langdorp

Deze avond staat in het teken van de duisternis. Op de Nacht van de Duisternis van 12 oktober 2019 doven verschillende gemeenten de verlichting voor een avond en kunnen inwoners even proeven van de rust en gezelligheid van een donkere nacht. Met Nacht van de Duisternis zetten Preventie Lichthinder en de Werkgroep Lichthinder (VVS) de impact van lichtvervuiling in de kijker.

Sterrenverening Helios zal vanaf 20h00 een kijkavond organiseren in Langdorp. Achter het Wolfscafe, aan de Demer, zullen telescopen staan om samen naar de maan en andere hemelobjecten te kijken. 

Einstein Telescope in Meuse-Rhine Euroregion

Will the most advanced gravitational-wave observatory be located at the border region between Louvain, Eindhoven and Aachen? There is a good chance!

This would be a great opportunity for our region. The established scientific institutions in the region offer a natural base for the leading researchers using the facility. The business community and the regional economy will benefit from its construction and from activities related to it. This is why scientists, business and governments are jointly exploring the Meuse-Rhine Euroregion’s candidacy to host the telescope.

The first detection of a gravitational wave on September 14, 2015, created a whole new field of research in physics and astronomy. As well as light and fast particles, scientists can now also observe ripples in space-time. They are the only kind of signal which cannot be deflected or blocked by matter in their path. No light is released when two black holes collide, but their gravitational waves are always measurable. As a result, physicists are now gathering new information about the nature of neutron stars, black holes and the universe immediately after the Big Bang.

How sensitive will be the new Einstein Telescope. According Prof. Dr. Frank Linde of the University of Amsterdam it can measure the level increase of one droplet in the IJsselmeer (1000sq km and 4,4m deep). The telescope has a design sensitivity of 22 decimal places : 0,00000000000000000000001. This means that it can detect differences in distance ten thousand times smaller than the size of the protons in an atomic nucleus. To achieve that incredible accuracy, the observatory bounces laser beams up and down along 10km long tunnels, at a depth of 250m . An ultra-high vacuum and specially designed dampers filter out disruptive vibrations from the immediate environment. The entire technology is quiet, safe and clean: all it does is passively observe and record gravitational waves, which are an existing natural phenomenon.

Drs Sara Issaoun & First Image of a Black Hole

Attending a lecture on the entire EHT (Event Horizon Telescope) experiment from the individual telescopes that record the data through the calibration, imaging, and interpretation of the observations that lead to the first-ever direct image of a black hole released to the world last April 2019. The lecture was given by Drs Sara Issaoun of the Radboud University Nijmegen (NL).

Warming Stripes

The stripes are showing annual global temperatures since 1850 and the colors are covering a change of 1,35°C.